Katie LaSalle (Class of 2013) Resume Reel This is a compilation of Katie's Anchor, Reporter and Weather excerpts

Joanna Small (Class of 2008) Reporter Reel This reel has some classy standups!

The resume reel is your final assignment in NewsTeam. It showcases to a prospective employer what youcan bring to the table. The following tips apply to the typical resume reel for a reporter position. The structure may vary, but many news directors will accept resumes that contain the basics:

The Resume (Demo) Reel

To get that job, you will need a resume (demo) reel. There are several kinds -- reporter reels, anchor, weather, sports, and even producer reels. You'll get plenty of opportunities in NewsTeam to beef up that reel, which you can then show to prospective employers. In fact, your final assignment this semester will be to produce a demo reel that showcases your best work (which can also include the work you do in internships and elsewhere) and embed it on your own professional website.

As the semester progresses, be sure that you're saving your work, including written materials like scripts, Web stories and rundowns (for producing jobs). Don't wait until the semester is nearly over to start collecting the work you've done; save as you go is the better recommendation.

Originality. News directors want to see enterprising stories. Your job is to dig up stories and new angles on existing stories, not duplicate what other reporters have already done.

Anchoring clips will not get you a job, but your reporting will. However, most resume reels end with an anchoring montage that lasts 20 to 60 seconds, and also shows some bantering with your co-anchors.

The length of the entire reel is 6 to 8 minutes tops.

Resume Reel Structures for News Reporters

1) Begin
with a slate

The slate has your name,
phone number and permanent email address. No need for mailing addresses as they likely change after a shorter period of time.

NOTE: If you upload your resume reel to YouTube or some other public video server, you might want to remove your phone number. Otherwise, you're inviting anyone in the public to ring you up. Instead, list your phone number only on correspondence that reaches the eyes of the news director.

2) Montage (or Round Robin)

The first thing on the resume reel is 45 seconds or
so of your best clips – stand-ups, anchoring, weather, etc., but only the BEST.
News people will argue about the merits of a montage. But one thing they can
all agree on – a resume is not just one big montage. Each clip should be quite
brief. For students just getting out of college, the montage length could be at minimum 15 seconds.

News directors look for
your on-camera presence under different situations, different stories. But don't overdo it. Use approximately four of your best stand-ups, making sure they are your most compelling, interactive work. The opening montage is your hook that grabs the prospective employer's attention.

10 seconds...

That's the average time a news director spends watching any one particular segment of a resume reel. Your best footage goes first.

Or, if applying for anchoring positions, you can transition to your best anchor segment, your best weather or best
sports. But keep in mind...

Your anchoring will not get you that first job.

Prospective employers will not hire you based solely on your ability to anchor. They want to know if you're a good reporter.

Prospective employers want to know: Can you tell good stories?

Each package should be different in tone and style. Use at least one hard news story.

Standard length for packages is from 1 minute to 1:30 (an incentive for keeping them short). Project stories may be about 3 minutes and investigative stories closer to 5
minutes.

The first package should be what you consider to be your very best.

Be
ready for the call that might ask you to submit another story. Always have other packages in reserve. The reel has got to
include some hard news. Mostly the news director wants to know if you can cover
the lead story, therefore, they’ll need some serious content.

Questions that news directors want to know about your storytelling:

do you have
instincts about writing?

are the sound
bites compelling?

did you make
the story interesting and worthwhile?

As far as packages are
concerned it all comes down to whether it’s interesting and engaging. It makes no difference whether the story looks amazing; news directors want to know if you can write in a way that pulls them in to the story.

4)
Lastly, include a montage of your anchoring, even if you’re applying for a
reporting job.

News directors want to see
how you handle anchoring in case you’re needed to fill in. Almost
all anchors are also now doing some reporting.

5) End with the slate you started with and then FADE TO BLACK.

Sports Reels

These reels are similar to the news reporter reels, but they have a bigger
emphasis on live reporting, and sports anchoring. However, news directors are still looking for your ability to tell stories in packages. For sports, it's not all about highlights and game summaries. You need to show that you can tell an original story, the stories that you don't often find on TV. One guaranteed way to make a good impression to a prospective employer is to show that you can tell stories no one else is doing. Even as a sports reporter, your job is to dig up stories.

Producing
Reels

This structure is a bit
more mysterious. It’s hard for news directors to gauge all you’ve done on a
show. Regardless what you send them, make it look good. Send something that’s
watchable. News directors will often ask:

How does the
newscast begin?

Did you do
anything clever or innovative?

Is it clean?

Is the writing
good?

Make sure the writing is
clear, conversational and accurate. It's common to submit an entire A block for a reel. This block shows news directors what stories you picked as the top stories, how you covered breaking news, the transitions between stories, and also the tease.

A few more thoughts about putting a resume reel together...

Ask yourself
what skills you’re willing to master.

The more you
can do the better.

News directors
are impressed with stories that required you to dig for information, that took
some work. That’s what gets their attention.

The way you
speak, your rhythm, ability to use your face are considered, but above all it’s
the quality of your story that matters most.

Social Media?

News directors want to know that you've been active on several social media platforms. Show them that the content you produce is engaging and informative. If all you do is Tweet messages that say, "1 minute to NewsTeam," then you're likely going to be skipped over in the job application process.

Ten FREE things that ALL journalism students

should be doing right now

1. Google
Profile:Everyone should have a Google Profile. This is the first thing
that shows up in a Google Search of your name. You want to make sure you have a
professional picture and description of your self. This is important because
companies do Google your name and you want to make a good first impression.

https://profiles.google.com

2. LinkedIn:This is also something that shows up very high in a Google search. Students
should make sure to have 100 percent of their profile filled out. Most
journalism companies are now checking your LinkedIn before you are hired. Try
to connect with journalists who fit your interests, past employers, teachers,
and your peers.

3. Facebook
Page:Almost everyone has a Facebook Profile but not everyone has a
Facebook Page. This was once only for celebrities and entertainment but now
anyone can make a page. You can use this page to collect and post links to all
of your stories and work that you create. Try to start building an audience of
people who ‘like’ your page and follow your stories. Make sure to mark yourself
as a “Journalist” and use a recognizable picture of yourself.

www.facebook.com/pages/create.php

4. Twitter:
A must have for a journalist! You should be following
reporters and media that relate to the type of ‘brand’ you are trying to create
for yourself.

oYou should be engaging in discussions with them by re-tweeting and
adding intelligent comments.

oDO NOT just hit the automatic re-tweet button! This gets annoying
for your followers and makes it difficult for the original tweeter to identify
you.

o You should always have
a hash tag, link, or picture with EVERY tweet to lead your followers to
content. The more ‘blue’ links the better!

oShare your own content and stories through twitter!

oTry live tweeting an event

oStart building followers with the content you tweet

oMake sure your avatar picture is very clear that it is you

oYour Twitter handle (name) should be very short and clear that it is
you

www.twitter.com

5. Google+: Journalists and Technology professionals are the main users of this
social media site. Make a professional account and add these people to your
‘circles.’ This is just another way to spread your work and connect with
potential employers.

https://plus.google.com/

6. Wordpress:Create your own professional blog to showcase your work and post
your resume. Make sure you put the link to your website in all of your other
social media websites and resume.

7. Foursquare:This comes in handy for when you are covering an event and you want
to see whom else ‘checked in’ to your specific location. You could then contact
them and ask for a potential interview or make a professional connection.

https://foursquare.com/

8. YouTube, Vimeo, Flickr,
Dailybooth, Soundcloud:These are all great sites to post your video,
photo, and audio projects. You can then embed them to your other social media
sites and your personal home page.

Talent Dynamics is a company that has
the most sophisticated digital library and database in the industry to
provide clients with video clips of on-air
newscast personnel. For three decades, Talent Dynamics has been the number one
resource for networks and local television stations when they have
questions or need information about qualified broadcasters.

You can also use Talent Dynamics to search for job openings in the broadcast profession or for talent coaching.

Q: Should I use dissolves
or other fancy transitions between segments in my resume reel?

A: Within your montage,
straight cuts are preferred. You can use a straight cut or a dissolve going
into the packages. But fancy transitions don’t impress. The golden rule is to
keep it simple and straightforward. What will impress a news director most is
your on-camera presence and ability to tell a story.

Q: Is it OK to call the
news director and ask if they saw your reel?

A: Best not to call out of
the blue. If it says “no phone calls” then don’t call. To call or not to call
depends on the relationship you have with the station. Rather than calling a
news director you don’t know, do some networking.

Q: Is the competition
harsh?

A: Yes, so relationship
building is important especially among your classmates. Your reputation goes wherever you’ve been. Do your best
to have a good batting average, even while you're in school. News directors will check references, and they might even have already hired some CU alums who know you. If an
applicant is considered difficult to work with, needy and arrogant, then what’s the point
in hiring them?

Q: What’s the average
length of a resume?

A: It varies, but the
maximum length should be 10 minutes. If it’s only 5 minutes, then news
directors might think you didn’t do enough.

Q: Should I know Web
design skills and multimedia production?

A: Knowledge of Web design
is a plus. If you have a knack for it and know what looks good, then you’re in
good shape. There are more jobs in television having to do with the Internet.
Media outlets are dying for video to put on their websites. The question is
whether they’ll prefer long-format or 8-second clips?

Q: Should I send my resume
reel just to small markets?

A: Usually, larger markets
require at least 2 years of experience. Therefore, it’s better to start small
and work your way up. Build your skills in a smaller market, getting most of
your mistakes out of your system. But it’s important that you enjoy the work
now. The rewards will follow later.

Building
Your Website Portfolio

Your website MUST BE
PROFESSIONAL with no personal photographs or stories that are not relevant to
getting the job. News directors could care less what you do on weekends or that
you won a beauty contest or that you’re the best baseball player on your team.

On the homepage: your most
pertinent information should be clearly visible. Don’t force the news director
to click away from the homepage to see your work. The news director should only
click to something else if they want to learn more about you and your work.

The homepage should be the
equivalent of “one-stop shopping”

Your name and contact info

Use only professional head shots (a screen grab from a show is OK, depending on the lighting).

a summary of
your qualifications – keep it brief

your resume
reel itself embedded onto the page

navigation
menu with additional items that include a printable CV,
writing samples and additional video examples as long as they’re relevant to the job you’re applying for.

Sending
a Cover Letter

Always include your Web
address and a business card that displays a the Web address. Make it very easy for
them to “see you” online.